Rise to Power: Ages of Darkness
by SkullFox
Summary: Star Fox is sent to investigate a distress signal from the Beltino orbital space station. What they uncover is an ancient evil hellbent on ruling the universe...R&R: I thought it was a good plot, critiques are of great importance thx.Romance in later chs
1. Inroduction

**AN: Let me know what you think this is starting a seireis for me so any critisisms would help greatly. **

**In ages long past there stood a ruler unchallenged, his armies were unbeatable and his strengths seemed nearly infinite. Once a kind ruler who cared only for his people's safety, he soon became corrupted by a mask that changed him into a monster of the worst kind...people fled at the mention of his name, entire armies fell at his hand, nations burned at his words. It was through the efforts of two young lovers that the ruler's tyranny was thwarted; the ruler had stricken down the young woman and the man attacked in a blind rage carving the ruler's heart from his chest with a rusty knife, despite being mortally wounded. Upon removing the vile black thing both heart and ruler solidified into onyx semblances of their former images; the two lovers had unknowingly cursed the ruler into an onyx prison for all eternity lest his vile black heart be returned to him. The kingdom started over, days became years, years became centuries, and though ages had passed the grim reminder to their worst ruler stood mocking the kingdom for all time, even long after the kingdom had been abandoned. Unfortunately some things that should be left forgotten find a way back into the tests of time...**

6,000 years later

June 2nd, 3281ac

Beltino orbital station Outside of Corneria's orbit

A small green toad in a lab coat and squared glasses examined the strange statue while recording his findings with the ship's main computer.

"Computer record findings, entry 2:32pm June 2nd, 3281..." Beltino said softly as he sat before the grimacing onyx statue, "The strange statue my research teams discovered was on the surface of a deserted planet called Tarros-4...the strange statue seems to be carved of solid onyx and is set in the facsimile of the genus_Homosapien, _which strikes me as odd for this particular species was wiped out nearly four-thousand years ago. Along with the statue was found two other objects; a sword of unknown origin, made of a type of steel unknown to our databases, and an odd heart-shaped piece of onyx, as well as the skeletal remains of two dead humans; one was determined to be male, but the second was so badly weathered and damaged that it could not be filed properly..."

Beltino paused as he held up she onyx heart and noticed a similarly sized hole in the statue's chest, because of the statue's sheer size Beltino needed a step latter just to reach the tall statue's chest. After studying the two for a moment he experimentally set the heart inside of the crevice and stepped back for a moment. He turned his head to pick up an energy scanner but, when he faced the placid statue again there was no hole, and the black shade of onyx quickly began to crack and chip away first revealing a lightly tanned chest. The amphibian ran his fingers over the smooth surface only to realize that in was quite warm, he leapt from his step latter and backed away as the statue's exterior fell away piece by piece revealing what appeared to be a lightly armored human...

"Computer this is absolutely amazing, this is a magic even beyond what I have seen the young Cerinian Krystal preform..." Beltino mumbled excitedly, " ...it seems that the onyx statue was indeed a petrified human of some sort. He is rather massive and is still shedding his stone skin, his face seems to be covered by a sort of ceremonial mask of some sort possibly in a reference to death as it is shaped in the image of a skull..." Beltino's eyes widened as the rest of the onyx fell from this mammoth's body and the human began to stretch, "...this is absolutely astounding. His muscular structure is unlike anything I've ever seen before and he appears to be roughly seven feet tall...if I had to make an estimate I'd say he weighs well over 300 pounds and is dressed in a strange armor..."

Beltino's fascination turned to fear as the human smiled menacingly and lifted the large sword from the table...his screams were heard throughout every corner of the space station...


	2. ch 1: Tragic Reunion

(3:41pm GST...Great Fox)

There was a mass of high tensions on the ship. Since the Angalar war the team had grown substantially; on top of their original team of Fox himself, Slippy, and Falco...there were several new members to the team. A total of four individuals, who's records Fox was now going over in his room; the first of them was an old friend of Fox and Falco...Katt Monroe her pink fur and white hair, apart from her tomboyish attitude and strange fashion sense set her apart from the others. The next photo in the profiles was of a black furred fox, a rare sight for a fox...he had shoulder length black hair and green eyes, his profile put him close to Falco's height...his name was registered as Arlex Stone. The next was called Xander Cramm, he was different to say the least, the auburn colored creature was half-fox, half-wolf...and had a habit of keeping to himself, his face was riddled with many scars making some of the other members curious about his past. The last of them was a blue vixen that Fox had seen far too often in his dreams; she was an attractive vixen with a single scar along the side of her muzzle, her eyes were nearly the same light blue as her fur and her hair was slightly longer than shoulder length...

"Damn it..." Fox said as he studied the familiar face of the blue vixen.

He'd been studying their profiles for hours and so far only three were aboard the ship...spare the blue vixen who's photo he couldn't stop staring at. As he spent his time there, he heard the sound of a ship docking with the Great Fox. Falco entered the room shortly after.

"Yo...Foxie, hate to break you away from your study but...she's here." He said walking up to his captain.

"I know Falco...I heard the ship."

Falco could see the mixture of regret and hurt in the vulpine's face; his reddish-orange fur was ragged, and his green eyes were bloodshot from his lack of sleep over the recent nights. This was one of the only times that Falco had seen him without his uniform, all he was wearing was a white tank top and a pair of brown cargo pants. Falco himself was nicely groomed, his feathers were well maintained and he wore his silver vest and pants, his standard team uniform. He'd been all formal and such since Katt came aboard...

"I'm sure she'd appreciate your being there to welcome her." Falco said putting a hand on Fox's shoulder.

_Sympathy from Falco...I must really look pathetic)_Fox thought to himself.

"Alright I guess you're right...I am the captain, it's common courtesy."

Falco donned his trademark smirk, "You can put on all you want Foxie...but everyone here knows that you miss her...hell I'm willing to bet that she's the reason you haven't been sleeping so well lately."

"Fuck you..." Fox retorted brushing Falco off.

Fox stormed out of the room after throwing the photo on his desk...Falco looked onto the photo, it wasn't the one he'd thought it was. Rather it was a photo of Fox holding Krystal who had her arms in the air both of them wearing huge smiles. It was from their vacation on Zonness several years before the war broke out. They looked so happy in the picture...

"What the hell happened to those two?"

000 

Fox had begun to hate the redundant surroundings on the ship; the halls of the rebuilt Great Fox were the same old dull polished steel color, they echoed with melancholy at his footsteps. His thoughts were as always with her, but at the moment there were other things on his mind. He liked the idea that Corneria's military decided to fix his father's old ship...but now it was even more confusing getting around inside, as they'd split up some of the decks to make room for more living spaces. A large pair of heavy automatic doors lead Fox to the docking bay where a new transport had come in from Katina; the room was a massive almost empty place at the time Fox could see only the transport and the old Arwings. He noticed someone stepping off of the ship with a mess of bag, nearly dropping several...

He quickly rushed over and began to lighten the passenger's load, "Looked like you could use a hand with this."

"Thanks..." A familiarly lovely voice said, "...for the help."

"No problem just follow me to your room." He was well aware of who he was talking too but purposely hid his face from her. As they approached the door a robotic figure wheeled through...

"Oh ROB good take these to Krystal's room." Fox said sitting the bags in the robot's metal arms. "I have some things to do here." He said heading to a spot where Falco was working on an Arwing.

"Mind explaining that?" Falco almost demanded, pointing toward where Krystal was once standing.

In her place was a small blue furred kit, with a small tuft of white hair on his head a lot like Fox's, it's green eyes seemed strikingly familiar, and though only knee high was curiously studying the area. The kit was wearing a dark green shirt and a pari of matching pants, with a pair of white shoes...

"Why do you think I sent her away during the war?" Fox asked.

"You know she'd understand if you'd just talk to her."

"Just lay off Falco...it's a lot more complicated than that."

Falco began to say something before the ship's PA system cut on and called everyone to the bridge, they had just received a transmission from Peppy back on Corneria. Fox and Falco walked almost together if Fox weren't trying his hardest to stay ahead of the Avian. They boarded a large lift that lead up an angled track to the entrance to the bridge, Fox was the first through the door. The bridge looked no different than usual; a large semi-circular room that had an incline of stairs from the door for several feet, the walls were lined with different computer terminals, and the full front wall in front of him was lined with large windows that stopped only a foot or so from the computers on the ground. Fox took his seat, which was a swiveled chair in the center of the bridge, he spun his chair to face the area behind him to make sure everyone was there...

"_Lets see here..." _He thought to himself, _"...Slippy, Falco, Katt with Falco, Xander, Arlex...and surprise no Krystal"_

"Computer...intercom Krystal's room." Fox said out loud, "...Krystal if you're coming to this little meeting get up here."

"Sorry captain I'll be right there..." Her voice shouted back as Fox could hear someone rummaging though things in the background, "...no put that down..." Her voice sounded before the intercom cut off.

Fox smiled as he rolled his eyes and stood up, "Falco you're in charge till I get back...go ahead and start the meeting without me and record it so I can catch up later. I'm gonna go see what I can do to help her."

As Fox disappeared through the doors Falco jumped into the captain's seat and gave Slippy the word to patch the transmission though. The image of an old gray furred hare appeared, he at the moment seemed to be reading something but, soon removed his glasses and set them aside...

"How's it goin' old man?" Falco asked.

"Not so good...I'm afraid I have grim news," Peppy said lowering his head, "Where is Fox?"

"He's helping Krystal with something...left me in charge."

The hare adverted his eyes toward Slippy, "Slip I...I don't know how to break this to you...but it's about your father..."

Slippy pulled off his red cap and tucked the bill into waist of his blue jeans then rubbed his sweaty hand on his white shirt leaving behind a trail of oil, "W-w-what happened...i-is he okay?"

Peppy's ears fell limply around his head, "...He's...dead." Peppy barely managed to say, "We received a distress call from his lab several hours ago."

Slippy had already rushed out of the room Katt had followed just behind him...

"Beltino was studying a statue that was found in the Dan'jar system on a planet called Terros VI..." Peppy said, "...the statue was found with the remains of two humans, a sword, and an odd heart shaped piece of onyx. All of the objects gave off strange energy readings, and Beltino insisted that he be given priority to study them."

"What the hell killed him then?" Falco asked, "The statue?"

Peppy looked at Falco disturbingly, "Actually yes. Watch the video that the lab's cameras recorded."

Peppy pressed a few buttons on his desk and and his image was replaced by the image of Beltino's lab, a rather dull place where everything seemed to be made of polished steel, there was also the normal science apparel about the tables. The short toad looked almost exactly like his son; light green skin, red eyes, the only difference between them would be Beltino's short mustache and squared glasses, along with the fact that he wore and white lab coat. The amphibian was walking about saying random things but there was no audio to the recording. Arlex and Xander had now positioned themselves beside Falco for a better view. The three watched until Beltino set the heart shaped piece into the statue...the recording went out for a few seconds but, when it cut back in it was rather snowy for some reason and Beltino was being held into the air by a figure that looked like the statue, a human. At the moment the human held Beltino at eye level, who was obviously screaming in pain, but was silenced as the person made a motion with his off hand splitting the toad in two with a large blade. After dropping the now dead toad, the killer turned his head slowly toward the camera giving them a glimpse of the skull shaped mask that covered the upper half of his face. Falco nearly jumped out of his seat as he saw the menacing look on the man's face. The look alone was so evil that he could swear that this man was staring right at him but then the camera cut off and Peppy returned...

"What the fuck Peppy?!" Falco yelled.

"We don't know...all we do know is that, that...man or whatever it is came out of the statue. And judging by his first actions I'd definitely say that he is not friendly. Approximately thirty minutes after we received the distress signal the base's com systems went dead. We sent the a unit of men to search the station but...we lost contact shortly after they arrived there. I fear the worst...We need the Star Fox team to investigate the station. And most of all be careful...being from this person's age I doubt he knows how to fly a ship of any kind, so chances are he's still somewhere in that station. Where is your current position?"

"We just left Katina...I'll let Fox know all of this and set a course for the station..."

"Good...Peppy out."

000 

Fox stood outside of Krystal's room trying to think of something to say. He finally knocked on the door which soon slid open. His eyes met Krystal's as she opened the door, and for a few fleeting moments the two stood there staring into each other's eyes. They'd missed each other greatly, especially Krystal as she had a child to care for. Their glances were broken as a loud sound came from the room and the two's attention turned to the small kit sitting on the bed. One of Krystal's bags was now on the other side of the room with it's contents spilled across the floor...

"How? I mean...did he?" Fox asked pointing toward the child.

Krystal walked over to the young kit and lifted him into her arms, "Well...he sort of developed differently than most Cerinians." She said walking toward him, "He doesn't have telepathy he's...telekinetic." Krystal then set the young fox in Fox's arms, "This is the first time you've held your own son in some time. Dose anyone know?"

Fox hugged the little one, "Falco sort of knows...and Peppy may know he's pretty quick for an old man."

"It wasn't right to hide our relationship like that though Fox." She said hugging him, "God I missed you so much."

"I missed you too Krystal..." Fox responded breathing her in, "...I think we should let everyone in on our little secret."

Krystal kissed Fox, then the young kit's cheek, "You mean the reason I really left?"

The truth was in fact that their break up had been a farce and a lie from day one; Krystal and Fox had discovered that she was pregnant...fearing what the team would think or do, they set up what seemed like a very real confrontation which led to her leaving. She had been in hiding on Katina in the country where there were no reporters or cameras. Naturally Fox intended to pick her up after the Angalar war, but things became complicated after Pepper's death. He was happy to see the day that she had been brought back to him and equally so to see his son who was a little over a year old now, the only time he'd seen them other than now was when the kit was born. He and Krystal stayed in touch in secret, and Fox managed to find some off time in which to get to her side as she went into labor.

"Yo Fox..." Falco's voice suddenly shot across the room from the intercom, "...we just got in a job from Peppy. Listen though...I really need to talk to you ASAP, we have a problem. Falco out..."

Fox turned to Krystal still holding his son, "Well...now's as good a time as any."

The two headed out of the room and side by side made their way toward the bridge. Fox was ready to deal with whatever was sent his way in reply to what they'd tell the team...and Peppy when the chance presented itself.

000 

The bridge was deathly quiet as the two walked into the room, Fox handed his son to Krystal as Falco called him over to the windows across the room. Fox could tell there was something wrong as Falco was not himself, he simply stared out the widow with his hands behind his back.

Fox walked up beside the troubled bird and stood in almost the same fashion, "...what's the bad news?"

"Beltino...he...he was killed at about 2:30 this afternoon."

Fox lowered his head, Beltino was one of his father's best friends, "How'd Slippy take it?"

"Not as well as you took your father's..." Falco said, "...Katt followed him to make sure he was okay...so don't worry, she's a tomboy but, she knows a lot about these sort of things..."

"Yeah I know...she's always been good with emotions...she helped me a lot when my mom died." Fox said sighing at the thought of his departed mother, "So what happened?"

Falco walked back toward Fox's chair, "Well you remember that onyx statue that Beltino was so hyped up about?"

"Yeah..."

"Well look at this..." Falco said running the video again.

Krystal had just joined the two and watched, she quickly looked away and covered the kit's eyes as the killing blow was dealt to her friend. As the video ended she turned back to Fox with tears in her eyes...

"How could anyone be so cruel? He was enjoying it."

"I-I don't know...he looked nothing like the humans in our history books."

Krystal became a bit startled as another voice sounded from behind her. Gathering everyone's attention. She turned to see a rather scruffy furred light brown fox, his hazel colored eyes seemed to sparkle with many different colors, his slightly long hair was tied into several tight strands on one side of his face while the rest hung behind his head, he was dressed in a red shirt and black jeans.

"If I may interject..." He cut in.

"Oh..." Fox said realizing Krystal's unfamiliarity, "...Krystal this is Xander one of our new members."

The two exchanged greeting bows and Xander continued, "Information gathering is my specialty...I could check Lylat's databases and see if I can find anything about this...skull faced person. Lylat's data systems go way back."

"Good idea." Fox replied, "You do that, report any important information to me...then we may have some sort of clue what we're dealing with here. ROB how long till we arrive at the space station."

ROB replied in his monotone voice, Approximate ETA is 2 hours and 21.3 minutes...hyperspace travel time estimated at 19.223 minutes...hyper drive engines currently offline cause unknown.

"Completely rebuilt and it's still a piece of crap." Fox grumbled to himself. "Alright just get us there and we'll see what we can do about this freak."

Xander walked out of the room, and Krystal was introduced to the last member of the team that she was unfamiliar with; she found Arlex to feel oddly familiar, he was a fox unlike any she'd ever seen...his fur was as black as pitch, but his eyes were a light blue, he wore a gray tank top and jeans, he was wearing a leather armband on each of his biceps that had small feathers hanging from them. He developed an annoyed look as she seemed to be staring at him.

"Is there something on my face?" He asked in a serious, gruff tone.

"No...there's just something...familiar about you." She replied attempting to delve into his mind only to be sharply repelled. "You're no normal fox...are you?" She asked.

"Pleasure meeting you..." Arlex said with a sigh as he walked out of the bridge.

"What's his problem?" Krystal asked.

Fox looked to Falco, the only person that had been able to talk to Arlex for more than a few minutes, "He's had it pretty hard...it'd be best to just lay off."

Fox had only talked to Arlex a few times, most of his time was spent alone so there really wasn't any time to get to know the fox...but his records seemed flawless especially in covert operations and ground missions so he was a welcome help...

As Fox and Falco continued their conversation on what the team would do Katt entered the bridge. Her eyes almost instantly locked on the blue kit in Krystal's arms. She rather hastily made her way toward Krystal...

"Oh my god!" She squealed girlishly, "Krystal he is so cute! When did this happen?"

"He's a bit over a year old."

Katt studied the kit, who turned away from Krystal to study the pink furred feline...Katt noticed something about the kit's eyes, "What's his name?"

"Marcus..." Krystal said looking to Fox as if he were to say something.

"...McCloud." He added, it was subtle but seemed to get the point across.

Katt turned to Fox with a smug smirk on her face, "Oh really?" She purred.

"We did it in secret but, we got married some time ago...before the war."

"Why the secrecy?" Falco asked.

Fox put an arm around Krystal's shoulders, "We were afraid of how you guys would react." Fox replied, "Then we found out about Marcus and the war and it seemed like the only course to take in sending Krystal away."

"Hang on..." Falco said as he pieced the situation together, "...that whole fight between you two."

"Sorry...but it was all a lie." Fox said.

Krystal and Fox explained everything in detail to Katt as Falco was there, he added his input in places even when not needed. Katt took over holding Marcus as they all decided to go to the ship's kitchen for something to eat before they reached the station...

000 

The massive station looked like a single pillar situated in the middle of a massive ring with several smaller tubes connecting the two. The team had assembled in the docking bay each armed for any encounter, everyone accept for Krystal...The first two out of the docking bay were Falco and Katt as usual. Followed by Arlex...as Fox sat by his Arwing he turned as Krystal walked into the docking bay Marcus walking beside her. As she walked up to Fox she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him...

"Don't you dare do anything stupid Fox...I love you." She said pulling away from him.

Fox gently kissed her back, "I love you too Krystal." He said before climbing into the cockpit of his Arwing, "We're just going out there to look for survivors, we'll do what we can about this statue man but, I promise we'll be back."

Orbital Station Docking Bay

Fox landed his Arwing several feet from Katt's, as he leapt out of his Arwing Fox made his way to the storage compartment where he armed himself with a high powered assault rifle, as he did this his wrist communicator cut on and emitted Xander's voice...

"Fox you won't believe this..."

"You found something on this guy?" Fox asked.

"I was amazed myself but listen to this..." Xander carried on, "...it's not about him but, the computer archives picked up some info on a mask like the one he's wearing."

"And?"

"You're not going to believe this but...the stories about the mask are almost all human ones dating back to the first era (human B.C period)...making it roughly 60,000years old or older." Xander continued, "One of the more famous of the legends about "The Remnant" as the humans called it, stated that the mask itself is alive. It goes on to tell that the mask was first found when it fell from the sky possessing a small boy. The boy grew in power rapidly, by the time he'd been wearing the mask for a week he lost his mind and attacked his home village...he slaughtered everyone, men, women, and children he even slaughtered all of the livestock and pets kept there."

"Soooo...it's evil?" Fox asked as he joined the others.

"That's what I thought until I kept reading...you see supposedly about 5,000years later another stumbled across the mask after the boy had been killed somehow. An entire kingdom was suddenly ushered into a golden age in a matter of months. Then this man was killed and the mask apparently vanished for a long time. Up until a time in the second era (human A.D period). I think this may be the guy you're dealing with..."

"That's good right? We know something about this guy."

Xander kept a moment of stunned silence, "Not quite...you see about 6,000years or so ago he found the mask. 250Years later he overthrew the governments of his entire planet, he became a planetary tyrant. Supposedly people feared him so much that most would not even utter his name in fear of the dire ramifications. Eventually the people stopped calling him by his name and started calling him _Alter Nex, _roughly meaning The Second Death. If this tale is true the man should go by Skull, but parts of it are incomplete..."

"Well then how would you know that this is him?" Arlex beat Falco to the punch as they were both listening in.

"The last part of his legend says that he was cursed by a young man and woman who challenged him for possession of the mask. The two were lovers and apparently the woman was killed by Skull, then the man somehow ripped Skull's heart out with an old rusty dagger...the curse placed on him encased his body in dark stone."

"Wait a second..." Falco interrupted, "...if cutting the son of a bitch's heart out didn't kill him. How'd the others die?"

"Some of the statements claim that they were beheaded...but nonetheless, be careful this guy sounds like a nasty piece of work, and there's no telling what he can do."

"Good work Xander...you keep finding info on this guy and we'll se what we can do from here...Fox out."

Fox pulled his assault rifle and the others quickly armed themselves...

"Alright then...we need to split up..." Fox said, "...Katt, Falco you two head down the eastern corridor. Arlex and I'll take the west corridor, we'll meet up at the bridge on the other side of the station. Communicators are to stay on at all times, if you see that son of a bitch do not approach him. We have no clue what he's capable of and I don't want any injuries...got that?" He waited for a moment before getting he reply from everyone at once...

"YES SIR!!"

"Good now make sure to keep your eyes out for any survivors...move out."


	3. ch 2: Overshadowed

Chapter II: Overshadowed

GST: 7:32pm

Fox didn't like the feel of the sector he and Arlex were searching, a small florescent shoulder lamp was the only light either of them had. As far as Fox could tell they were in a storage area of some kind, large crates were everywhere and the room was fill with many smells...

Suddenly Arlex called Fox, "Fox! Over here...survivor!"

"Oh god." Fox said to himself as he saw the survivor.

It was a brown female squirrel in a white lab coat, a large steel rod had pierced the center of her chest. There were tears and fear in her pretty green eyes and she kept swallowing and breathing heavily. The wound had stopped bleeding some time ago, Fox grabbed the rod with one had...

"NO!!! Don't touch it! It's too close to my heart." Her tears were forming again.

"Did "he" do this?" Fox asked.

The scientist nodded weakly, "He...can't be living...nothing that horrible can...aahhh...be real. It was all fun for him...even his own pain...gave him some sort of twisted pleasure...but nothing managed to slow him down...aaahhhh!! He's way too strong even for your team...he tore my husband in half with his bare hands." She coughed up a large clot of blood. "Look...there's no way to save me...just do me a favor. Please make it stop hurting."

Arlex knelt beside her and wrapped his arms around her trying to provide what comfort he could as he lay his muzzle next to her ear and began to whisper to her, "Suo vestri ancestors, quod exsisto solvo illae poena." (Join your ancestors and be free of this pain) His actions had calmed her, Arlex stood and turned away from her pulling out a small pistol. "I'm sorry." He whispered. Fox tried to stop him but it was too late, the thunderous shot tore through her skull giving her the quick release that she deserved.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!!!" Fox yelled forcing Arlex to look him in the eyes.

Arlex instantly responded slamming Fox's back into a crate, "Now you listen to me. Mercy was my only option..."

"You call that mercy?! Look at her!"

"Fox...listen..." Arlex said in a calm voice, "...I know this is hard but, when someone is in so much pain that they beg for death...you should at least have the courtesy to take away the pain. I don't know about you but, I couldn't sit there and watch her suffer like that and still sleep at night. She'll be a lot happier in the afterlife."

** Falco&Katt's position Eastern corridor **

The current room Falco and Katt found themselves in was obviously a mess hall...or might have been. As they entered the room Falco lost his footing dropping to one knee and catching himself by placing one feathered hand on the floor, as he stood he looked to his hand...his palm was covered in blood. Not just his hand but, the floor, it was covered by a thick blanket of red. His mouth dropped open as he eyed the room, Katt made a strange sound before leaning on the far wall for support as her stomach churned and emptied itself, Falco placed a feathered hand on her shoulder and looked back to the horrible sight. Soldiers of all kinds were brutally slaughtered, dismembered body parts lay strewn about the area, entrails lay scattered on tables and about the grounds, a severed torso of a wolf was hung from the room's ceiling fan by his own intestines.

Falco lifted his wrist communicator to his beak, "Fox?"

"What's up Falco?"

"Katt and I just found the mess hall...it's a slaughterhouse; there's blood and guts everywhere. No survivors."

"Same with the cargo area." Fox replied.

"Well as soon as Katt can move without throwing up we'll get moving...Falco out."

** Fox&Arlex **

Fox was still a bit angry with what Arlex had done with the scientist but, the more he thought about it the more he came to realized that Arlex was right about what he'd done...it was done out of mercy. The next few corridors were almost just as dark as the one before but Fox suddenly stopped in his tracks and his ears stood on end flinching about trying to locate the source...

"You hear that?" Fox asked.

"Yeah. I think he's studying us. He's been shadowing us since he watched me kill that squirrel back there."

"You noticed him back there too huh?" Fox whispered.

"Yeah...he's pretty fuck'n big, he's fast and light on his feet too."

"Why do you think he's following us?" Fox asked trying to keep his ears on alert as they walked.

"Probably looking for a way off of this station. He seems to have gotten a little carried away with the killing...so his only way off of the station would be to rely on one of us. Just ignore him for now."

Fox and Arlex did so with their stalker staying in the shadows out of sight, it was almost an hour of trudging through the blood stained corridors when the two finally made their ways to the bridge. Falco and Katt followed soon after...

"Anything?" Fox asked.

"No...no survivors at all. Not even a full corpse." Falco replied. "You?"

"Just one...but...she died."

"If that's the case then the mission's done...lets get out of this creepy place." Katt said shuddering a bit.

There was disagreement as the four headed back the long trip toward the docking bay, but something was bothering Fox, something he could tell was bothering Arlex as well...the one that was shadowing them was gone. He could no longer smell the odor from the person's body, nor could he hear his faint, ominous, stalking footsteps. Fox didn't know whether or not Arlex or the others could feel it as well but...he could feel a type of pressure bearing down on him when he knew the man was nearby, almost like the gravity around him was increasing by the moment. As they walked Arlex noticed Fox's hand on his stomach...

"I felt it too..." Arlex said softly, "...the Cerinians called it Magical Pressure, it's like a feedback that happens when a lot of magic energy is present in one place."

"It's making me feel sick."

Arlex scoffed, "You haven't seen anything...you never set foot on Cerinia...to a non-Cerinian it would feel like carrying a few extra hundred pounds on your back." Arlex's face turned to worry, "But still I've never felt this much pressure from one person before...it...frightens me."

There was a silence that held until they entered the docking bay; a dark shadowed figure loomed near one of the Arwings the only thing visible being the reflective surface of a sword hanging to one side. All of their weapons were instantly pointed at the figure. The figure didn't move toward them but instead made an odd gesture and placed his sword into a sheath hidden by a tattered black cape, almost as if to invite them into a hand to hand fight. When they refused to drop their guns the man's eyes turned a deep red that shone bright enough to light up his face...from forehead to upper lip was what appeared to be a skull bathed in the red glow, an evil smile spread across his face...Fox felt something hit his mind, but it immediately passed...

"Vos...(You)" The person's voice echoed, "...Vos mos operor.(You will do)" He said pointing in Falco's direction.

As he did this Falco lifted from the ground several inches, the avian then flew toward the man who locked a powerful grip around the blue falcon's neck. Falco attempted to scream as a searing pain shot through his mind and body slowly spreading like wild fire, but his voice didn't seem to work, and he couldn't move whatever this man...Skull was doing, it felt worse than death. After what seemed like forever Skull finally dropped the now unconscious bird and turned running his hand about the Arwing's nose...

"So..." He hissed somehow now in their language, "...that's what this is. I wonder why the short one did not possess this knowledge." He held his hand on his head, "I have much strength to regain."

Fox and the others had been able to watch all of this happen but had not been able to move. Skull tuned toward them, he looked as though he had been drained of his strength somewhat...

"Sleep..."

His voice echoed through the room and the team's heads causing them all to fall to the metal floor in a deep slumber. They awoke several hours later with a missing Arwing and an escaped killer...there were dark days ahead...

** Aboard the Great Fox **

Fox's head felt like a drum in a rock band, whatever that 'Skull' person had done it didn't feel very good at all. Peppy's loud talking over the com system wasn't helping matters either...

"Look General..." Fox said holding his aching head, "...I told you I don't remember. He looked at us and then everything went blank. We all woke up on the floor...hell we can't even remember what he looked like."

"Then how did he know how to pilot the Arwing he stole?" Peppy asked angrily.

"I don't know sir." Fox replied, "The surveillance video shows that he was doing something to Falco..."

Xander stepped into view, "It is my belief that this Skull person...can somehow filter through other minds...like uploading data from a computer. So at that point anything Falco knew...so dose he."

"Wait a second..." Fox said as he realized something, "...play back that video from when Skull attacked Beltino."

They all sat by and watched the video until it was to the point where Skull was holding the toad up to eye level...

"Right there.!" Falco yelled as the video was paused, "That's the same look the bastard gave me before I passed out!"

"How did it feel?" Krystal asked from her standing position next to Fox.

"Like a fire inside of my skull...every second hurt like nothing I've ever felt before...and the son of a bitch was smiling the whole time."

"That can't be good..." Slippy finally interrupted, "...dad was one of the most brilliant minds in the Lylat system, if that guy knows everything that dad did, we could all be in serious trouble. He could already know the entire history of the Lylat system; every single weapon that dad has ever developed including all the access codes to every defense system in Lylat."

Peppy nodded along with Slippy's words, "Yes...indeed. We'll get started changing access codes to the Cornerian defense grid and send word to all other planets advising them to do the same. And Slippy I am sorry for your loss...Beltino will be missed, he was a good person and a good friend."

"Thank you General..."

"Peppy out."

The team could only wonder about what could happen next, they were all unsure. Fox had never seen anything like it, this man...he was so much more powerful than anything he'd ever known...until now he had believed that Krystal's powers were great, but is scale compared to what he' witnessed they were nothing in comparison...and worst of all this creature was now free to go anywhere in Lylat to do as he pleased.

Somewhere near Sauria

The lone Arwing that was stolen from the space station flew slowly toward the planet where Fox and Krystal had first met. Something attracted it's passenger to the primitive world...

"So many worlds...and such lovely devices such as this...Arwing...I rather like it here." Skull said to himself as the ship broke into the atmosphere, "This place will serve as my new kingdom...then my conquest can continue where it was left off so long ago. Oh...how I miss the screaming."


	4. Ch 3: Disaster strikes

**Chapter III**: Disaster strikes

** 4 months later **

Oct 23rd,3281ac

The team had been searching for Skull every day since the escape from the space station, Slippy had now left to continue his father's studies hoping that he'd find some more information...Xander had become the team's new mechanic/information officer, Krystal seemed to be more interested in her reforming relationship with her husband, and Arlex remained a mystery to all but himself, though he did seem to open up to Fox every once in a great while. Between Xander and Arlex, Fox seemed to be learning a lot about swordsmanship...it was very rare to find anyone who studied it in the modern age...not just swordsmanship but any human art was nearly dead in the modern age...but Fox seemed to be dazzled by the way the two preformed, he'd often watch the two spar hoping to catch up on some of their more difficult maneuvers, before too long Xander had given Fox one of the many spare swords he kept in his room in case of a break...which so far had only happened once during their sparring matches. In Fox's honest opinion he believed that Arlex was a much better fighter, for some reason Fox could tell that Arlex kept holding back...perhaps to keep from hurting Xander, he never bothered to ask...

** Great Fox bridge **

Fox sat in his normal seat while the holo com system displayed a rather calm faced Peppy...

"This doesn't make any sense at all general..." Fox started, "...we've scanned every planet in three different star systems and there isn't a single energy signature that resembles Skull's in the slightest bit...I don't know how he's doing it but he's masking his energy signature somehow."

Peppy looked rather disturbed by the news, "Then it may be safe to say that he may not have left the Lylat system...and worst of all he could be hiding anywhere."

Xander cut in walking next to Fox, "No offense sir...but I don't think he's hiding...I mean think about it; the two that cursed him are dead, no need for revenge so what would be the second thing on his list?"

"Well it would be fair to assume that he may want to rebuild his lost empire..."

Peppy seemed to agree, "If that's the case he may be in search of new residence...or he could have already acquired such." He said, "Well then we'll have every planet searched for recent developments or any other severe changes...in the mean time you all look for any information possible on this freak...keep in touch with any new information...Peppy out."

Fox turned his chair to face the door, it was only 11 o'clock in the morning and he already had an excruciating headache from the constant stress. This was going to be a long day. He dismissed himself from the bridge and headed for the kitchen the whole way rubbing his temples in a vain attempt to clear his head. As he passed the living quarters he heard the soothing sound of a saxophone, that was Arlex's music...he was an expert with the instrument so good that, at times, it seemed like he was playing a different instrument altogether...the sound seemed to be almost hypnotic forcing Fox to freeze in his place. He now noticed that Arlex's music...it was sad, not one joyful tone or melody or upbeat note; all sincere and disheartening as if he were telling the world that he was the only one alive wishing for death. Listening to the constant stream of tones floating through the air, the tune began to reach out to Fox soon welling fresh tears into his eyes. The tune made him recall his father and his mother, seeming to force the painful thoughts of their deaths into his head, unable to take anymore he found his way into the kitchen where Krystal was seated along with Katt both had fresh tears in their eyes...

"You...heard it too huh?" Katt asked wiping her eyes.

"Yeah...that guy really needs to learn some happier tunes." Fox said grabbing his head as his headache returned.

"Are you okay Fox?" Krystal asked.

Fox nodded as he took a seat between the two, "It's just all the stress; Peppy retiring, Slippy leaving, Beltino's death, this Skull guy, Arlex doesn't seem to get along with anyone, Falco seems to be getting worse than ever, and now we can't find hide or hair of Skull..."

Katt stood up and patted Fox on the back, "Foxie I think it's safe to say you desperately need a vacation."

"Ya think?" He almost shouted sarcastically.

"I'll make you some tea that always helps my headaches." Katt said walking into the cooking space out of sight.

Fox rested his elbows on the table covering his eyes with his hands, "Fox..." Fox moved his hands to find Krystal with her head level to the table looking into his eyes, "...I think I can help your headache go away."

He lifted his head, "Go for it..."

Krystal jolted forward forcing Fox into a rather deep kiss, after a few seconds the kiss seemed to draw him in and soon his only thoughts were the vixen attached to the end of his muzzle. His thoughts were completely cleared in a matter of seconds but, he still held the embrace...he missed this feeling, she hadn't kissed him like this in years, not since Marcus was born. He'd forgotten how much of a stress relief she'd been before...now that he thought about it, it was most likely all the stress that caused her pregnancy to begin with. Now however their kiss began to heat up and soon they were all over one another, their hands making their ways about the familiarity of each other's bodies as their tongues danced about one another's mouths. Fox wasn't the only one who missed their physical love...Krystal had grown accustomed to it as well over the years and now they were both filled with three years of pent up sexual frustration threatening to tear them apart...

Fox broke away both of them gasping for air, "Where's Marcus?" He asked.

"Taking a nap in my room..."

"My room then?" Fox suggested with a smile.

"Oh yeah..." Krystal smiled still breathing heavily.

The two rushed out of the room hand in hand actually forgetting that Katt was in the kitchen...in fact at the moment she was standing in the middle of the room wide eyed, she'd seen everything but was too stunned to stop them. As her thoughts wandered onto what they may be doing her face grew hot and turned a deep red, she quickly drank the tea herself...

"I guess those two really missed each other..."

** About 2 hours later **

Fox lay in his bed studying the bare ceiling, Krystal lay against his chest sleeping peacefully...he had to admit she was right, his headache was gone. As he lay there he could clearly think about the task he'd been given by the General then something hit him...to keep from waking Krystal he reached for his personal communicator on his nightstand and turned it on...

"Yo Xander..."

After a moment Xander's voice answered, "What's up Fox?"

"I think I may have a clue where that bastard went." Fox said as he carefully climbed out of bed and got his uniform back on.

"Really where?"

"He'd want to head somewhere indiscreet, you know below the radar..." Fox pointed out, "...and if he knows everything that Beltino and Falco knows, he'd know that Sauria is underdeveloped and outside of the Cornerian alliance...completely unprotected."

"And the natural energy from the planet itself would hide his energy signature...wow...this is one smart son of a bitch."

Fox finished putting his uniform on and kissed Krystal's cheek before leaving the room, "Look if you're on the bridge set us a course for Sauria...even if he's not there we can at least start from there."

Thirty or so minutes later Krystal stretched her arm yawning deeply as she opened her eyes, she hadn't slept so peacefully in nearly two years...she did however have a slight headache. She was a bit disappointed that she hadn't woken up next to Fox but, she was sure he had a reason for running off, Krystal was used to waking up next to him after their times together. His room on the ship was often very cold as well and at the moment she wasn't exactly sure where her clothes had gotten too during their lovemaking...this was mainly due to the fact that she was still a bit groggy from having just woken up. After a bit of roaming around the room she managed to find her clothes...and a hot shower...it could have been a bit awkward walking around the ship smelling of love as she did, her terribly matted fur and hair were also a bit less than presentable...not that she didn't enjoy being able to smell Fox's sent all over her body, but others may not have shared her fondness for this particular aroma...

She took her time with her shower, she could relax as she knew Marcus was in safe hands anywhere on the ship...he did have her curiosity toward new things, not to mention his fathers courage...it wasn't a particularly good mix of personal attributes as it often led to the young kit getting hurt. The shower's steaming waters did it's job though, she felt clean again. She didn't put on her old clothes...instead she took Fox's bath robe and wrapped it around herself before heading toward her room, she startled herself as she turned a corner only to slam into what seemed like a wall causing her to fall on her ass. She looked up to notice that it wasn't a wall but Arlex she'd run into; he'd obviously been working hard at something because his shirt had been removed and was dangling slightly from the back of his belt line; at first Krystal had thought that he was large, but seeing him like this she could clearly see that he was more muscular than his uniform led the eye to believe, his form was quite a bit larger than Fox's...

Arlex helped her up, "You shouldn't be barreling around blind corners like that..."

"I'm sorry...I..." Krystal started, "...wait how long have you been in this hall?"

Arlex ran one of his ebony colored claws under his chin, "Long enough..." He assured her with a faint smirk. "You two may want to soundproof that room by the way."

Krystal was now blushing madly, nearly her entire body was now a light shade of purple as the red mixed with her fur, "I-I...umm..."

Arlex chuckled a bit under his breath, "You should probably get to your son...spending too much time around Falco and I'm sure he's bound to pick up some bad habits."

"Oh...thank you where are they."

Arlex vanished into a missing panel in the floor, "Fox was a bit worried about it himself...said something about a womanizing bastard giving Marcus the wrong ideas. Headed off toward the Rec room." He said as his arm reach out of the hole, "Can you hand me that wrench over by the far wall?"

Krystal handed him the only wrench she found, a number 6 box wrench. Then rushed toward her room...Arlex had already seen her wearing Fox's bath robe and that was too many people. She managed to get in a shower before getting dressed, she fixed her hair and her matted fur. She dressed in a pink tank top that Katt had given her some time ago, and a pair of blue jean shorts that fit a little tighter than she recalled. On a slightly closer inspection she realized why...

"Wait a second...these are Katt's."

** 000 **

She was a bit curious as to how she came across a pair of Katt's shorts in her things but, quickly changed into a pair of red sweats instead. She slid on her old sandles before heading toward the Rec room. When she finally arrived there she could make out the distinct sound of Marcus's laughter, as well as the clash of metal on metal.

The Rec room was more of a training hall than anything else; it was centered by a fighting ring, and was filled with exercise equipment as well as two large plasma televisions. Falco was holding Marcus while he stood beside the ring where Fox and Xander were both going at it with a large sword in hand. Fox was using the one that Xander had given him some months ago; it was thing with a long, curved blade and an angled point...if she remembered correctly he called it a 'katana' some ancient human weapon. Despite it's slender blade Krystal noticed that it's edge seemed to be a bit more honed than most of the other swords she'd seen. Xander was using a slightly shorter double edged sword, something some Cerinians had preferred to use, he called this one a 'longsword'; though it was a bit shorter than Fox's it had a thick blade, the metal fixing above the handle was elaborately decorated and made the sword, in the proper position, look like a sort of cross. She walked over to Falco where Marcus seemed to be enthralled with what his father was doing...

"He's getting good at this..." Falco said as he handed Marcus to his mother, he was more than happy to leap out of the falcon's hands.

Krystal stood by for a bit until she noticed something of Fox's face, "Is Fox bleeding?"

"Yeah...it started out as practice until Xander cut him by accident...since then is seems like Xander's just been trying to keep Fox from killing him."

"This sounds serious I don't think Fox knows what he's doing...aren't you going to stop this."

Falco scoffed out loud, "Hah...You think I'm getting in that ring with those things swinging around? I've seen Fox's sword slice through a munitions box...I ain't getting anywhere near that thing as long as he's swinging it."

As she watched the fight Krystal couldn't hold back any longer. Her eyes went white and Fox froze in mid-swing giving Xander the chance to get out on the ring. After a minute or so the anger left Fox's eyes and he became himself once again. He slid his sword into it's long case and jumped out of the ring where Xander seemed a bit winded...

"Xander...I'm sorry, I couldn't stop myself..."

"That's alright...now I know your limit. I just won't go there again..." Xander stood up and slid his sword into it's protective sheath, "...your skill is improving at a dramatic rate though, you're a very fast learner...and have more stamina than I've ever seen in a beginner."

Krystal smirked at the comment, "Tell me about it..."

"What?" Fox asked.

"Mmm...Nothing..." She smiled.

Falco managed to stifle his laughter as he'd caught the point of what she'd said...everyone but Krystal turned toward Marcus as he began to say something that sounded like gibberish to Falco...Fox however knew what it was, he was speaking Saurian just like Krystal had when they first met...

"Wait he can talk?" Falco asked.

"Yes...but he doesn't speak out like that very often, he usually keeps his thoughts and words to himself." Krystal said, lowering an ear toward Marcus who repeated what he said, "...Oh...okay. Apparently it's about time for dinner, Marcus is a bit hungry."

"Good idea kid...keeping your old man from killing me has worked up a bit of an appetite." Xander said rubbing Marcus's head, causing the kit to hide his face in Krystal's chest, as Xander walked out of the room.

** 000 **

As the others headed toward the kitchen, Xander walked through the halls until he found Arlex still working below the opened panel in the floor near Fox's room. After a bit of just standing there leaning on the wall, the shirtless black fox's head surfaced from the hole...one could not even tell that he was working, neither sweat nor oil was visible on his fur. He crossed his arms and rest them on the floor as standing in the open panel put it at chest height, and looked up at Xander who was still scratching his chin...

"How'd he react to it?" Arlex asked.

"Action without thought...could be him." Xander said sliding into a sitting position, "It was strange though, he completely lost control of himself..."

"Humph...then it may not be him...we may have to try someone else later..."

"But they have to be in love. We can't just send in someone because he's a gifted fighter...this is gonna have to work."

Arlex sighed deeply, "I was hoping it was him...I'll try the test in a week or so myself."

"You need to be careful...I've never seen anyone grow in skill as fast as he has...It's almost unnatural."

Arlex vanished back into the floor, "He very well may be the one from the prophecy...but we can't be certain until he gains sight without seeing. So until he sees something without using his eyes we can't be certain...Now get your ass down here and help me, there's a lot of rewiring to be done."

** 2 hours later **

The entire crew was called to the bridge where Fox was waiting in his usual seat at the center of the bridge...The com-system was displaying a large image of the planet they were orbiting around, Sauria. There was a very disturbed look on his face as he was rubbing a hand on the back of his neck; the long range scanner was displaying some disturbed information...

"What's up Fox?" Falco asked as the crew all piled through the door.

"Xander..." Fox said turning to Xander who was working at a computer terminal.

"It's not good news..." Xander said tuning toward the crew who'd all massed around Fox, "...There are almost no lifesigns on Sauria...and what life there is seems to be massing near Krazoa Palace. And that place's energy readings are off the charts. It could be safe to assume that Skull may be here."

Krystal upon hearing this stepped forward, "What about Thorntail hollow, and the Ruins, and Cloudrunner fortress..."

"I'm sorry Krystal but...there are very few lifesigns in any of those locations; we may have discovered Skull's new empire."

Fox thought to himself for a few minutes, then turned toward the crew, "We need to send out a scouting party before calling Peppy; I know the planet well so I'll go, Arlex I want you down there too..."

"I'm going too..." Krystal said stepping forward, "...Katt could you look after Marcus while we're gone?"

Fox didn't like the idea of them both going but, once Krystal set her mind to something there was nothing he could do to stop her. Before they knew it, they were in their Arwings heading toward the planet. Thorntail hollow seemed to be the safest place for a landing, within no time they were all standing in the clearings of Thorntail hollow where they found the grizzly sight of hundreds of slaughtered animals...


	5. Ch 4: Flesh & Blood

**Chapter IV:** Flesh & Blood

**(For this chapter I wanted to dig into Arlex's past a bit...he's pretty vital to the storyline so I had to get this out in the open sooner or later. Enjoy Ch 4...)**

The team armed themselves and combed the area; the hollow was a blurred vision of itself, Thorntails lay everywhere, the dank stench of their deaths filled Fox's senses. Vultures picked at some of the corpses, while others had already began to decay in the daily heat...the smell was absolutely foul. Krystal was fighting back tears for the fallen creatures, while Arlex seemed to be more concerned with what they were to do next...

Fox walked to the stream that split the hollow and splashed some water on his face; the assault rifle in his hands felt heavy so he strapped it to his back, he always had his blaster on hand, and over the recent his new sword had not left his side. Krystal at the moment carried a lightweight version of a gattling gun, as well as a blaster and of course her staff. Arlex was armed as he usually was one obscenely long katana, it was at least 50 inches long, another he carried as a backup was uniqe in it's own way as it had not one but two blades not two inches apart, though it was of average length, apart from the swords he carried a standard assault rifle...he didn't really like guns too much.

The three searched about the area looking for the survivors...unfortunately the only living Thorntail in the hollow was traumatized to a state of utter insanity, mumbling something to himself repeatedly about a 'Dark One' and Sharpclaws. The poor creature couldn't even bring himself to realize that he was starving himself to death hiding in a cave under a waterfall near a beacon fire. After a while Krystal managed to calm the creature down with her telepathy...

"Okay..." Fox said as Krystal gave him the 'go ahead'. "...can you tell us what happened?" He asked turning on his old translator.

"A...a stranger came...we thought it was you Fox...he was in one of your ships." The dinosaur said in a very weak voice, he was terribly malnourished and dehydrated, "But...whatever that thing was...it killed everyone...it carried a strange weapon like the ones the black fellow has..." He said pointing his nose toward Arlex...

"We scanned multiple lives...where are the other survivors?" Fox asked.

"They fled to the Lightfoot village...those who did not escape were enslaved..." The creature paused for a moment, "...it's been this way for nearly four months. Prince Tricky's father was one of the first to die, the queen survived but...only long enough to say good bye."

Krystal returned with a load Dumbledang pods which the Thorntail quickly tore into, "But why are you out here all alone if it is so dangerous?"

The creature stopped eating for a moment, "I was with a scouting party searching for food...provisions in the village have become scarce with our tribe living among the Lightfoot. I got separated from the party and then was chased by the Sharpclaw tribe...that stranger...he has complete control over both the Sharpclaw and Redeye tribes. Both tribes seem to act and react differently, they are organized, tactical, and carry odd weaponry and armor..." He then continued to eat.

Arlex tilted his neck to either side, "Seems he's found his new royal subjects."

"Then we need to go see Tricky...he may know the safest rout to Krazoa Palace." Fox said standing up, "Are you well enough to walk?"

"Given the motivation at the time, I haven't much of a choice."

A bit of time passed before the Thorntail got up and the group of now four headed in the direction of Cape Claw. Nothing was as Fox recalled it; there were no bird songs like last time he was here, just a gloomy, irrepressible silence that seemed to be everywhere they went, only on a rare occasion did the silence cease to the sound of one of their voices, and even then it was most usually a remark on the eerie silence. At the half starved-to-death Thorntail's pace it took over an hour to reach the small forested grove where the Lightfoot village was hidden...As the four waited at the hidden gates but turned as they heard Arlex's sword hiss from it's sheath...

He had the blade against a tree trunk as if to threaten it's life, "Show yourself...or else..." He said pressing the blade a bit closer.

As he did this the others heard something behind the blade seemingly struggling to get free. Arlex lifted his rifle's barrel up to a point just above the blade and suddenly a Lightfoot appeared...a tall muscular, brown scaled one that looked oddly familiar. Fox wasn't sure at first who it was but notice the cloaking device in the animal's hand...

"Muscles?" Fox asked a bit puzzled, "Arlex let him go..."

Arlex complied with a hesitant sigh as he sheathed his blade, "Muscles do you remember me? Fox..." Fox asked, "...I gave you that over three years ago..."

"Fur...ry Lightfoot?" The Lightfoot managed to say after a bit of struggling with the words.

"Yes...I'm back...I need to see the chief."

Now away from the edge of Alex's blade Muscles made his way to the gates and produced a small whistle which made a distinct sound as he blew into it... The gates slowly opened and Muscles grunted as he tilted his head toward the opened gates. Just inside the gates Fox noticed that the village had changed a bit; Earthwalkers, Thorntails, and Cloudrunners could be found everywhere, a number of them seemed to recognize Fox though none approached him. The Thorntail was escorted off by friends while the vulpine trio followed their burly escort to the chief's hut which was located near the village square...The chief seemed out of sorts, his large feathered headdress was now replaced by one who's feathers hung down it's sides and back. His skinnier body seemed to say that he was getting on in years but, his expression seemed to grow somewhat as he noticed who was visiting him...

"Ah! Fox...it good ta see you again...eh?" He said struggling with his back to stand from his throne like seat, "It what?...three year now...you not visit like you say."

Fox rubbed a paw against the back of his neck, "Sorry Chief...but things came up. 'War' things."

"Ah yes...war, much important..." The chief agreed as they all walked with him, Muscles helping the chief walk, "...but remember friends...yes?" After a short walk they all rested on the hill in the village square where seats had been placed since last time surrounding the totem pole, "Muscles be chief soon. Him strong, young, females like...him make good chief. He also chief only son, no much choice."

"We need to talk about this stranger that came to Sauria." Krystal said drawing the chief's attention.

"Ah...Fox. You find good mate. Pretty...strong."

Krystal blushed heavily turning her embarrassed purple shade, "MMM...she turn pretty color too..." The chief turned to his son, "Muscles...you go...get three horned king."

** 000 **

A few minutes passed before Muscles returned, he was shortly followed by the stammering footsteps of a full grown Earthwalker; the four legged dinosaur was decorated in heavy armor from nose to tail which was made of individual linking plates that seemed to cover all the vulnerable points of his body, even the three horns on his head were covered by plated sheathes to keep them from breaking off in case of battle...His eyes instantly turned to the three foxes...

"FOX...KRYSTAL!!!" He shouted lunging at them.

Thanks to Krystal's powers he stopped in mid-air...

"I'm afraid you're much too big for that now Tricky." Krystal said with a giggle as she set his mass on the ground.

Tricky regained his royal composure, "Sorry guys...I just haven't seen you two since your honeymoon. I was beginning to think you'd forgotten all about me."

"Tricky I'd love to stay here and tell you how ridiculous that sounds but..."

Tricky lowered his head, "You're here for that guy with the mask, and the huge dagger...he killed father, and mom...and all the others..."

"Yes..." Fox answered, "...can any of you all find a way into the Krazoa Palace without being noticed?"

"First thing stranger do...take out Cloudrunner...none left...if they not join him...he kill." Chief Lightfoot said. "He crush queen in square just make example..."

Arlex was pacing the area, "Seems he's smarter than any of us had hoped for..." Fox said, "...he wiped out any aerial support any of you could have had. Then he went after the ground units one tribe at a time...they didn't pledge to him, they all died."

"MMM...Snowhorn gone too...proud, they fight to death...fight last only till noon, start in morning. Hightops too, but they rare before he come."

Their conversation carried on for hours, until the sun went down and the village's torches were lit. The chief gave Fox and his crew a hut to sleep in for the night, Arlex left it to the happy couple and decided to stay out in the square where he had built a small fire...He lay there eating small pieces of jerky he'd brought with him from the ship. He had always preferred the outdoors, it was where he grew up, the outdoors was his home. As he lay there he could hear a set of familiar footsteps, a set that were assisted by a walking stick...The aging chief sat near the fire a short distance away from the vulpine...

"You shouldn't be out so late..." Arlex said taking a seat next to the old one.

The chief sighed, "10 year pass...you no come back. Me taught maybe family mean more."

"You know I didn't mean to go away so long..." Arlex replied, "...but I got caught up in something."

"Dat someting maybe what make you sad?"

Arlex sighed deeply with a bit of a chuckle, "Even if you aren't my real father...you could always read me like an open book."

"Some book easy read...odders not so much...but when you tink about it...any book easy nough read...when you jes stop ta look through da words, eh?"

"Well said Chief..." Arlex agreed, "...Muscles still seems a little pissed off at me though, he wouldn't even say 'hi' or 'go to hell' or anything."

The old one hummed in agreement, "He strong body...but you him brudda, you know that just cover...keep soft heart safe. Him not same since you leave...not say a word...even forget most word...you still not change mind? Make good chief..."

"I'm sorry father...but you know that's not the life for me..." Arlex said tossing a log on the fire, "...I can't keep an entire tribe in line. I'm a loner...always have been...always will be."

"I bet'n maybe she not tink so...dis girl maybe you loose...maybe loose you..."

"No you had it right the first time...we were married..." Arlex said pulling his smaller double bladed sword, "...about 3 maybe 5 years...she caught some sort of virus..." Arlex produced a small photo from his pocket; the portrait of a vixen with bright red fur and light green eyes.

"MMM...I see why you take er death so hard...but, it sometin we all gotta deal wit sometime, eh? You jess need learn how say good-bye..."

"Yeah...:" Arlex commented placing another log on the fire, "...maybe...do you still have that stone?"

The chief needed his rest and stood to leave, "...We all made a flesh and blood Arlex...even if maybe you try make youself stone inside...you still just flesh and blood." He said tossing a small red stone on a chain to the fox as he walked slowly away.

** 000 **

**(that morning)**

Arlex was still sitting by the fire he'd made at night, Fox and Krystal sat near the fire where they found Arlex cooking some of the food he'd packed just in case as well as a Puk Puk egg or two. Krystal was wrapped in Fox's green flight jacket, Fox didn't seem to mind the cold so much...he cared even less when Arlex produced a pot of fresh coffee, his pot was lowbrow a metal camper's coffee pot. As Fox sat near the fire now with a cup of coffee he noticed something that Arlex had apparently dropped, a small wallet sized photo. Arlex didn't notice him looking at it at first but when he did he searched his pockets...

"Where did you get that?"

"By the fire..." Fox answered still studying the picture.

"Give it back." Arlex demanded.

Fox pulled away and stood up still holding both his metal coffee cup and the photo, "Hang on...who is this?"

Krystal recalled Falco and a similar incident on the Great Fox and covered her eyes, "Oh god Fox...don't poke the bear." She said to herself.

Fox kept studying the photo and refused Arlex's many demands to hand it over, Krystal jumped out of her seat when she heard the gunshot. Arlex's rifle was aimed at Fox and the lower half of his coffee cup was missing, Fox was completely frozen in a position that suggested that he'd just been drinking from it. Arlex stormed by swiping the photo from Fox's grip who finally dropped his cup with a relieved sigh...

"Fox! What the hell is wrong with you!?" Krystal scolded him.

"What? I only found it on the ground...who knew a scrap of paper was that important?"

Krystal sighed at her husband's insensitivity, "Didn't you see the look on his face? That scrap of paper obviously means more to him than your life."

Krystal stood up and walked off in Arlex's direction, "Oh great...now I pissed her off and got shot at. Sometimes I wonder why I even get up in the morning."

Krystal looked all around for Arlex, she wanted to apologize for Fox's stupidity, she found him near a well on the outskirts of the village. She found it surprisingly difficult to spot the dark furred fox without the assistance of the sun. His fur blended far too flawlessly into the shadows to allow him to be spotted, the only thing that truly gave him away was the silver colored sleeveless shirt he wore, he was studying the picture until he heard Krystal's footsteps...

"I'm sorry for the way he acted back there..." Krystal said cautiously walking toward him, "...but he meant no harm."

"No...I overreacted."

"Didn't make it any less funny..." Krystal admitted, "...he may need to change himself though."

Arlex chuckled a bit, "One can hope."

Krystal sat on the edge of the well, "Would it be intrusive to ask what it was that caused such a reaction?"

Arlex sighed but handed Krystal the picture, "She's very beautiful...is this your only photo of her?"

"Yeah...she didn't like cameras too much..." Arlex said, "...she was a normal fox but she was raised on Cerinia. I was raised here by the chief...I got adventurous when I was a teen and found a way off the planet. Unfortunately I was raised by a tribe that never knew what a space ship was...I managed to activate the auto pilot and ended up crashing into Cerinia..." He explained as Krystal handed him back the photo, "We only talked for a short while before I learned how to pilot the craft that had stranded me there...but on my journey home I couldn't get her out of my head...so I went back, after we got married I never came back to Sauria..."

"What happened?"

"I think your people called it 'Black Fever' or something like that..." Arlex said putting away the picture, "... Irea didn't even know she had it. Five years after we were together it hit her and...she died..."

Krystal wished she hadn't asked, "I...I-I'm sorry...but I knew when I first met you on the ship that you were familiar...I remember a black fox, an older one that used to play with me when I was still a kit."

Arlex chuckled to himself, "Little Blue..." He almost whispered.

"I remember when you gave me that nickname..." Krystal said, "...you said I cried too much."

Arlex laughed almost out loud, "You didn't even need to be hurt...just the sight of someone else in pain made you cry...It always was one of my favorite parts of your personality...you cared about everyone."

"But you told me you'd come back...what happened? You were like my older brother..."

"I'm sorry Krystal...but going back after Irea died just would've brought back painful memories when all I wanted to do was forget...I was a coward...I ran."

Krystal stood up and hugged Arlex, something she hadn't done since she was a kit, "You're not a coward Arlex...but I'm happy to know you've been safe all these years."

"Thanks Blue..." Arlex replied, "...and if you don't mind keep this conversation to yourself...I have a reputation to keep up."

** 000 **

Krystal and Arlex arrived back at the square where Fox was speaking with Tricky and the Lightfoot Chief. They both seemed a bit into what the vulpine was saying, but they all stopped as soon as Arlex and Krystal joined them...Krystal could tell that Fox had questions but didn't want to ask any of them in fear that he might insult someone again, their entire conversation was recapped...Apparently a small scouting party mainly consisting of the stealthy Lightfoot tribesmen, had set out to search for a safe route to Krazoa Palace...Muscles was leading the group, and several of the tribe's best scouts were in the party as well. There was no telling how long it'd take for them to get back but, they also had Swift Lightfoot with them as a messenger so that any news would get back before they would...All the team could do is sit...wait...and worry...

It was nearly nightfall when Swift Lightfoot rushed into the village, he brought word that said the scouting team had found a safe route...it wasn't an easy path; he explained that the trail lead on a lengthy hike through Snowhorn wastes, then through a long tunnel that led to the palace...it was used as a fast travel route between the Palace and the Snowhorn Wastes but had long since gone unused. It wasn't a particularly long trip but, with the larger party they'd be traveling with; Tricky decided on going...the others decided that a living, armored, 10 ton, battering ram could be helpful in some situations as well. As the scouting party returned Fox's crew decided to leave early in the morning...

** 000 **

Arlex, as usual, was awake before his two vulpine companions, before the sun for that matter...Fox was a bit surprised when he woke up to Arlex standing over him. The situation wouldn't have been so bad for Fox had either him or Krystal been wearing anything more than the blankets that covered them...

"What the hell are you doing in here?" Fox demanded.

"We need to talk...meet me near my camp." Arlex said quietly before exiting the hut.

Fox thought to himself for a moment before recalling what he'd done yesterday, "Oh no...I hope Krystal talked him down since then..."

Arlex wasn't waiting long before he saw Fox approaching his small camp on the hill in the village square...as Fox joined him he received a cup of coffee with a grateful smile...

"Look if this is about the photo..."

Arlex smiled, he was a bit flattered by Fox's fear, "No...rather it's about me...and I'm sorry...I overreacted a bit, I'm not used to so much company." Arlex apologized as they drank their coffee.

"Then what's with waking me up so early? Just to apologize?"

"Fox...I don't think I'm the only one that's told you that I have a bad feeling about coming down here after Skull so soon...we are not strong enough."

"..." Fox remained silent.

"You can feel it as well as I do..." Arlex continued, "...there is no future for this world. He has been given far to much time to recuperate the strength that he has lost over the centuries. I can tell you that what we witnessed on the space station...it was nothing to him."

"And you can tell this how?" Fox asked.

"The chief here called it a gift, but I've always been able to sense power in others...not like Magical Pressure...but their strength, it radiates from one's body like an aura." Arlex explained, "What I see when I see these 'auras' is a sort of barrier of wavering light around a person's body..."

"Okay...that's pretty fuck'n weird but, I'm following you."

"In my life I've seen auras of all colors and sizes and have determined over this time how to read them..." Arlex said taking a drink from his cup, "...the auras come in varying sizes and colors; a weak aura will almost seem like an outline of light around your body, these smaller auras most often state that the person is lacking in spiritual energy or 'magic' if you need to label it further...Now despite what you may think you know about magic, it dose not simply allow you to, say set things ablaze, or any of the things that Krystal's staff can do, those are simply magic tricks. True magic lives within you in the form of a soul...A strong or powerful aura, or if you prefer a powerful Soul, can radiate it's light in all directions and tower high above it's source..."

Fox's head hurt a bit, "Hang on...you can see the power in a person's Soul?"

"Simply put...yes."

"That's why you said he frightened you back on the space station...isn't it?"

Arlex nodded, "Fox the auras also come in a broad array of colors; the brighter the color the better that person's natural intentions...his had no color...it was as dark as the shadows around him. I can't tell you what that thing is, but I can assure you...even if he was born human, he isn't anymore."

Fox had a bizarrely frightened look on his face, "So what do you suppose we do?"

"You believe me?" Arlex sounded a bit shocked.

"You've never given me reason not to..." Fox replied, "...and that whole thing couldn't have been made up, why would you make up such a story?"

"At least you're logical...but like you said, what do we do?"

Fox thought through several cups of coffee, "We can only fight...and hope to god you're wrong."

Arlex didn't say anything else, but nodded in agreement; he had not done it yet so he looked into his 'Soul Sight' and directed it at Fox. There was a dense aura around him or light red, it only reached about three or four feet from his body at the time...there was room for improvement. They sat near the fire for hours until Krystal joined them sitting next to Fox where they wrapped themselves in each other's arms and a warm blanket, they didn't tell Krystal what had been told to Fox...it would have only worried her. They waited until Tricky arrived at the small fire fully donned in his armor before they all left the safety of the village and ventured out toward the Snowhorn Wastes...


	6. Ch 5: Eyes of Evil

**Chapter V**: Eyes of evil

By noon they reached Snowhorn Wastes through a large cave at the north end of the old Thorntail store. There was nothing left, it was exactly like Thorntail hollow; bodies scattered about in all manner of conditions; there were signs of dead Snowhorns everywhere, wherever one once stood now two long curved tusks jutted from their snowy grave. The sight was a grim reminder of Skull's strength and power, the mammoths were not only proud but strong...and now thanks to that pride they were all gone...

"After cutting through the Thorntail Hollow..." Tricky said using his nose to move the snow from the skull of a dead Snowhorn, "...he passed right through here...nobody could stand in his way."

Krystal placed a hand on one of the tusks that jutted from the skull, "These poor creatures...dose he have no soul. How can he constantly kill and feel no remorse for ending so many innocent lives?" She turned to Fox and hid her tears against his chest.

As Fox held her he looked to Arlex, "Anything?"

Arlex reached to his communicator, "Xander?..."

"Yeah Arlex...what's up?"

"Can you scan our location for life?"

" Hang on..." Xander's voice replied, "...I'm getting...one...two...four, only one of them is Saurian."

"Thanks...Arlex out."

Krystal lifted her head from Fox's chest as she heard the news, "So there is a survivor..."

Arlex shook his head, "Three of us..." He said pointing to Tricky, "...one of him."

** 000 **

As they continued their trek through the snowy wasteland the winds and snow picked up; the wind whipped at their faces and stung their eyes, the drops of icy snow felt like needles on their skin as it melted upon touching their fur. Tricky seemed will enough spare the fact that every few minutes he was forced to shake himself free of the snow that had piled up on his back; he stayed up front of the group as he knew where they were going better than anyone, also his large footsteps packed down the snow making it easier for the others to walk...as Fox thought about it he realized that his friend, being full grown, also made a handy snow plow.

It was still hours before they reached the cave; it was relatively large but well hidden by thick undergrowth around it's entrance, the four set camp near it's mouth as it was getting dark...

"Krazoa Palace is surrounded by mountains..." Tricky said, "...for the longest time the warp stone was the only way there...the mountains were far too steep and tall for us to climb over...so at some point before I was born my father had this tunnel made and hidden...just in case, he was a very wise dinosaur, I'm glad he died before he saw any of this..."

Arlex hadn't said a word since they saw what was left of the Snowhorns, "Arlex? Are you feeling alright?" Fox asked drawing Krystal's attention to the black fox.

His attention was elsewhere...

"Arlex?..." Fox said waving a hand in front of his blank eyes, "...Yo! Black Beauty!..." He shouted snapping his fingers.

To his surprise Arlex's paw clamped his muzzle shut, "Shhhh..." He hissed with a finger in front of his nose, "...can you hear them? There's three...and they aren't Lightfoot either."

Arlex pulled the shorter of his two swords, "What are you doing?" Krystal asked.

"Giving them a hardy welcome..." The black fox said shooting through the bushes that hid them from sight, amazingly not making a sound.

A few minutes passed, then another, the only sound they could hear was the powerful wind tearing through the landscape. Suddenly there was a slight cry of pain followed by the sound of metal scraping against another metal surface. Something burst through the bushes toward Krystal; it was a heavily armored Sharpclaw soldier who seemed positively scared senseless, rushing for any cover possible, but Fox noticed it's course toward Krystal...almost involuntarily his sword left it's sheath cleaving through the thinner collar of the dinosaur's armor. It's metal clad head flew a short ways landing in front of Tricky who snorted at the lump and kicked it away...Krystal at the moment looked a bit disgusted; the creature was only a few feet from her when it head was removed, it's body still took a step forward before the wound sprayed her with a foul smelling blood, most of her upper body was now a deep red...

Tricky laughed, "You alright Krystal?...You look a little flushed."

Krystal gave him a look of pure evil, but it faded as Fox rushed over to her, "Are you alright? You're not hurt are you?"

Krystal kissed him, "No...I'm fine. Thank you Fox...I'm just sticky and covered in blood. You could've done that with a lot less gusto though." She said wiping some of the blood from her face, "This is definitely going to stain my fur."

Arlex soon appeared back through the brush wiping his blade clean, he almost laughed when he saw Krystal but he had something more important in mind. "We have a slight problem...one of those three was a Lightfoot...she wasn't a prisoner."

"A spy then?" Fox asked wiping his sword before sheathing it.

"I'm afraid so..."

Fox picked up the severed Sharpclaw head, it was oddly clad in an armor that perfectly protected every part of it's face while leaving it's lethal jaws unhindered, "He's developed better armor for the Sharpclaws..." Fox said tapping a claw against the metal surface, "...looks like it's made of Kidarian Alloy."

Arlex grabbed the head, "Really?...Hmm...no mistaking it Kidarian. I hope this metal is on this planet somewhere?"

"Why is that?" Krystal asked still cleaning blood out of her fur.

Fox sighed as he tossed the head over his shoulder, "Krystal...Kidarian Alloy is named after Kidaria, the planet it was discovered on...it is home to a race called Luxonian. If Skull found a way to take them over..."

"Don't try to sugar coat it Fox...We're fucked." Arlex said, "All Luxonians are massive, and brutal in every sense of the word. They took full pride in combat and even based their social order around warfare, they never developed any further than the medieval ages..." He said kicking the Sharpclaw's body, "...Xander you've studied them haven't you?"

Arlex's communicator came back with Xander's voice, "Pachyderms...huge, bigger than any other race discovered...by the time a Luxonian is a few years old they could already look an adult fox in the face, they can get to about nine feet tall, and weigh as much as a ton...there's a reason Corneria's council decided to leave them out of the alliance...the entire race suffered severe temper mental issues, the slightest thing could piss them off and you wouldn't even know it until you were dead."

Arlex turned his communicator off, "So you could see why we can only hope they aren't involved with Skull. With soldiers like them he would have an army that could match any in combat...that was the other problem with Luxonians it takes almost no time for them to learn...they are smart but, despite their mental capacity they lack the resolve to use it."

"That doesn't seem too likely though..." Fox said, "...if they were with Skull we'd have seen one by now."

"Lets just hope you're right..." Arlex replied.

** (The next morning...) **

Arlex didn't sleep at all, he sat by and watched the fire and the others; he didn't bother to worry about Krystal getting cold, Fox seemed to do a good enough job in keeping her warm, and Tricky didn't seem to mind the cold at all. As he sat there he noticed something about Fox's aura...it was bigger and brighter than the time he'd looked before, a light blue like the one he'd always seen around Krystal...

He didn't know what to think, he'd never seen anyone's aura changed so rapidly, but thinking on this did not ease his mind. He did not like the idea of them going after Skull. Something about the man filled Arlex with an emotion he was not used to feeling...fear...fear for the life of the Earthwalker king Tricky, fear for the life of Fox and Krystal, as well as fear for his own. He could not tell how but, just from the sight of the man's aura alone...Arlex knew that even together they were no match for Skull. He carried the burden on his own shoulders, if need be he'd fight Skull while the others made an escape, he went over it in his head several times...constantly trying to think of a way to talk Fox out of this fool hearty crusade, but despite his little time with the vulpine he knew Fox's weaknesses; he was brash, fast to act, and loyal to a fault of the people of Lylat, he'd follow his way into Skull's grasp, he'd die and then there'd be no stopping the inhuman creature from having his way with the entire Star System...

Fox as usual was the first to wake...to keep Krystal warm the lay his jacket over her providing the extra warmth and joined Arlex by the fire, "You're up early..." He said with a hearty yawn.

"Couldn't sleep..." Arlex said staring into the flickering flames, "...Why are you doing this Fox?"

"What are you talking about?" Fox asked as Arlex handed him a metal cup of coffee.

Arlex sighed, "Going after someone of whom you have no chances of standing against?"

Fox remained silent...

"And then...what of Krystal, or worse yet Marcus? If you die here he'll grow up just like you did...fatherless. How well do you suppose that would sit on the boy's mind?"

Fox sighed deeply, "You think that hasn't gone through my mind every second we've been down here?" he almost yelled, "If it's what you wanna hear...yeah this guy scares the fuck out of me. Even Andross was never this strong...but..." His face turned somber as he looked to the sleeping vixen, "...Then I think about Krystal and Marcus again...in that freak's world...and that scares me far more. I'll do anything to protect them Arlex...and if I have to die for them to live, I'll gladly give my life for them."

Arlex smiled as he saw a single tear fall from the vulpine's eye, "I have never doubted that in you Fox. No one loves Krystal or Marcus more that you do. You may not have been there his whole life, but I've seen you and Marcus grow incredibly close in the time you've had together. But...all the love and caring in the cosmos isn't going to be enough; blasters and politics are not going to work on this foe..." Arlex quickly pulled his longer sword which came to a rest on Fox's shoulder instantly, "...so far as we know the only way of killing him is beheading him...and I'm sorry to say that, given the time frame in which he was born there is no modern swordsman that can match him; not to mention that abilities granted him by the mask, and I fear that what we've seen was only a fraction of his true ability."

"Then what do you propose we do? Give up?"

Arlex put away his sword, "Don't you ever say that...You've never lost anything until you give up. That option is for cowards...and I really don't wish to see you in that light Fox...I have far too much respect for you..." He sighed, "...I apologize for being so forward with all of this...but this man frightens me to no end, it's not a feeling I'm used to."

Fox poured himself another cup of coffee, it was stronger than that he was used to but better than nothing, "I know the feeling...After father died, I thought I was fearless, nothing ever scared me, not even when Wolf nearly shot me down on Venom...but...Then I met Andross in battle; I'd never been so scared in my entire life...I still have nightmare about him, now there's this Skull freak, and he scares me even more..."

"You're smarter than you give yourself credit for..." Arlex said, "...you don't seem to fear the person but, rather the thought of being afraid...You fear, fear itself. That's the smartest kind of fear there is...Just don't loose faith, we'll find a way to take him out...but for now it may be informative to get a look at his new palace and see what he's done with the Redeye and Sharpclaw...There's no telling what he has planed for the future, but if we find out we may have an upper hand to defend ourselves...but, you must promise me...no Krystal that you will NOT fight him or approach him in any way."

Fox could see the endless resolve in the fox's deep blue eyes, "Alright Arlex...if this bothers you that much, I swear that I will not approach or fight Skull..."

Alex looked unsure...

"You have my word...if not as a man, then as my father's only son, that I will not fight him."

"A man's only as good as his word Fox...I'll do what I can to protect us all but, should something happen to me don't try to be a hero...just take Krystal and get your asses off this planet...Got that?"

"Right...and I'll do what I can to help. Thanks Arlex."

"My pleasure...Captain."

** 000 **

When Krystal and Tricky finally woke up the four headed through the tunnel; it was barely big enough for Fox and Krystal to stand in, Arlex was hunched over uncomfortably as he was quite taller than the two, Tricky of course had no problems walking in the cramped space. The tunnel turned out to be a bit longer than Arlex had anticipated...after about a thirty minute walk they finally entered into a clearing overlooking the massive tower. It wasn't the same as the tower Fox recalled saving Krystal from; the whole place carried a feel now that sent chills down his spine. He noticed something about the base of the building and pulled a square viewing scope from his pack and placed the device in front of his eyes... He was awed by what he saw; the base of the tower was swarming with masses of Sharpclaw and Redeye. The massive T-rex like Redeyes looked to be fitted with armor that covered their backs leaving a small spot for a mount at the base of their necks. The actions of the many creatures seemed to imply an impending attack march or search...a small squadron of soldiers including two of the battle fit Redeyes and about twenty Sharpclaw soldiers...

"Well...?" Krystal asked as Fox hopped down from the small ledge.

"Looks like a search party..." Fox said handing her the monocular device,

Krystal leaped up onto the ledge and knelt down before looking through the device, "Do you think this has anything to do with that small group you and Arlex killed?"

Arlex thought to himself before producing a small scroll of paper, "Might involve this...I took it from the ones I killed. The traitor had it."

"What is it?" Fox asked unrolling the scroll only to strain himself trying to decipher the complicated mess of runic letters.

"I can't read it...whatever it is written in, I can tell you that it is not from Lylat." Arlex replied. "...but there is something odd about it."

At the mention of the word 'odd' Krystal hopped down and took the page from Fox, then studied it for a moment curiously...

"Arlex...this isn't writing..." She said, "...at least not yet."

The tree others watched as Krystal's paws began to glow with a dull blue light, which then filtered from her fingers to the page. The small lines that made up the runes on the page then took on the light, some reformed while others appeared entirely, after a few seconds they began to formulate a coherent message...though it was written in Saurian.

"What's it say?" Fox asked as he had never learned to speak or read the language.

Arlex looked over the page, deciphering it as he read, "Lets see here... "Master Skull...It would appear that your suspicions are correct in assuming that the fox has come to Sauria. He travels with two other foxes; one as black as midnight, and a vixen with blue fur. It has also been drawn to my attention that they have the King Earthwalker with them and are currently heading toward The Palace...Their flagship is definitely in orbit as they have landed in their small fighters. I believe they are yet to discover our agreement on the fate of the remaining dinosaurs that seek refuge in the village..." Arlex paused before as if he could not believe something he'd read, "...Kjhuda Lightfoot..."

Arlex looked rather upset as he threw the now crumbled note to the ground, "What's wrong, who is Kjhuda?" Fox asked.

"Kjhuda...is Muscles's real name." Arlex answered with a hint of rage in his voice.

"Wait..." Tricky cut in, "...if he's working with Skull then..."

"Right...that's no search party...it's an attack squad."

"Krystal can you reach the chief from here?" Fox asked.

Krystal closed her eyes and soon the only sound was that of the marching troops, after a few minutes the soldiers's footsteps were no longer audible. Soon Krystal's eyes fluttered open and she shook her head...

"That was harder than I thought..." She said with a paw on her head.

"Did he get the message?" Tricky asked impatiently.

"Yes Tricky...he's moving everyone out of the village and they are all retreating to the ocean forcepoint temple...whatever that is." She said wincing at her own voice.

Fox placed his hands on her shoulders, "Are you alright Krystal?"

She kissed the end of his nose, "I'll be fine Fox, that just put a lot of strain on my mind. I'll be as good as new given a little time."

"Well...let's go see what we can find out." Arlex said leading the way off the small cliff.

** (Inside the Palace) **

The team kept their weapons armed the whole time they were walking through the halls,...for some reason there were almost no guards. Fox and Arlex agreed that neither of them liked the situation, but they kept their conversation to themselves as they were a short way ahead of the others. Fox's fears grew as they neared the main hall, which turned out to be a much different room then the one that Fox remembered. It was the same massive shaft that led to the top floor; a spiral staircase scaled the walls, large tapestries hung on the walls, and in the center of the room sat a massive stone seat that was obviously used as a throne. The pillars that surrounded the room were all carved of stone resembling the faces of the Krazoa, as they stepped into the room the massive doubled doors slammed shut behind them...

"Well I've never known that to be a good sign..." Fox said aiming his rifle at the throne.

Krystal on the other hand looked absolutely mortified as she backed against the door, her eyes wandered about the room's darkness, her breathing was heavy...

"Fox...I don't like it in here..." She said in a fearful voice, "...I can feel him in here...he's watching us. My telepathy only relays fear whenever I sense him...It's as if my ability itself is telling me to be afraid."

Fox and Arlex didn't say anything but, a strange feeling of fear overcame both of them despite the fact that neither of them were actually afraid. As they all looked about the room a sound came through the silence; it sounded like heavy, slow moving footsteps, along with the sound of clattering metal. The light that shone from the opening high above, where Krystal was once suspended, finally caught something; the outline of a perfect skull lined with black hair, and those deep red eyes. Krystal had never seen anything like him, his massive body was almost completely unprotected, the pants he wore were now layered by a thin set of metal plates which covered him from his waist to his knees, thick leather straps harnessed a small metal piece in the center of his chest shaped like a small skull, his red cape was hiding the blade of the sword who's handle protruded from behind his shoulder. As he stepped into the middle of the room he pulled on the chain about his neck causing his cape to fall to the floor, his hand took hold of his sword who's massive blade made a loud resonating sound as it struck the floor. He pulled the sword to his side and thrust it into the ground; it's blade was nearly the width of his two massive arms put together, and it was barely shorter than he was by maybe a foot, the blade was a polished black color, it's crossed hilt had small decorations that stretched a small length up the sides of the blade.

He stretched his arms, as he did this his body seemed to bulge horrifically. He then held out his arms as if asking them to shoot him, Krystal immediately obliged knocking Fox and Arlex aside. She instantly took out her gattling gun and depressed the trigger...the spray of lead released by the four rotating barrels kicked up a massive amount of dust which caused the others to sheild their eyes. The sound of the bullets ricocheting off of the stone made a sound similar to metal on metal as as the large .50calibur rounds tore the stone floors apart. Krystal held the trigger until the only sound from her weapon was that of the barrel spinning on it's electric gears...

They all opened their eyes to see only the massive cloud of dust and smoke, but as they stood there Krystal looked into the dust in disbelief. The cloud cleared and all the others could see it as well...the throne had been destroyed, the floor was in shambles and one of the pillars looked as though it could topple at any moment...but...Skull was still standing, his blade had blocked every bullet...he now wore a sadistic smile that frightened Krystal more than she'd already been. He fixed his gaze on Krystal which caused both Fox and Arlex to attack; as Arlex rushed Skull a spray of lead distracted their opponent, but, to Fox's surprise Skull stopped blocking the bullets and made an amazingly fast spinning motion with the enormous blade which struck the surface of Arlex's massive katana...the impact was so great that it sent Arlex spiraling through the air, the limp fox landed near Tricky who was several feet behind Fox, his weapon became lodged in the wall...the blow left Arlex conscious but only just, he'd landed on his head pretty hard.

Skull's gaze then turned to the one that had been shooting him...Fox threw down his now emptied weapon, and pulled his sword...which didn't help the uneasy feeling knowing how much larger his opponent's weapon was. Skull surprised Fox yet again as he allowed his massive sword to fall to the ground. Fox then took the opportunity to rush the man...but the effort was wasted. As the blade pierced the man's chest he took a firm grasp on Fox...his single massive hand was enough for his fingers to touch at the back of the fox's neck. Fox knew what he was doing and closed his eyes forcing himself not to look but then the pressure hit, only enough to choke him at first...it escalated to the point of near unconsciousness...his eyes finally opened and were met by Skull's. The pain that shot through Fox's head was unlike any he'd ever experienced...it felt like his eyes would burst, and hit so hard and suddenly that his vision instantly blurred, he couldn't even hear the screams of agony that were causing Krystal to cover her ears.

As Krystal stood there she watched in horror as Skull began to lift his massive blade again to finish his job with Fox. She pulled her staff and began to charge all the energy she could into it. She finally released the pent up energy which struck Skull in the side of the head causing him to break eye contact with Fox. He kept his grip on Fox's neck while dropping his weapon and slowly advancing of the blue vixen who looked on in horror, she'd never charged up a shot that powerful and it didn't even scratch him, Fox's sword was still buried in his chest up to the hilt, but it didn't matter. She tried to back away as he advanced on her but she tripped over Arlex and soon found herself in the same powerful grip...and then she felt the burn on his gaze...but for some reason his grip released and she fell on top of Fox, she was groggy and disoriented from what he had done but, she had spent much less time in the position that Fox had. As the fog faded from her vision she looked up to see Skull pinned to the far wall with Tricky's horns piercing his chest, their impact on the wall set a large impression in the stone which grew as Tricky dug his hind legs into the floor trying to push Skull further into the wall. Arlex slowly recovered as this was happening and helped Krystal to her feet, Fox followed shortly after...

"GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!" Tricky screamed as Skull began to push against the massive creature's body.

Arlex tore his sword from the wall and took Fox by the arm, who was fighting to help Tricky, but couldn't maintain his balance long enough to take a step. Arlex threw the staggering vulpine over his shoulder and rushed toward the door which Krystal and him pushed open. From Arlex's back as they ran down the halls Fox watched as Skull finally pulled the horns from his chest, and with a single powerful twist stopped Tricky's advance. As Tricky's neck twisted into a contorted state the segments of armor that had once protected his neck snapped loose flying through the air...Fox tried to fight against Arlex to get loose but, it was too late. He could only scream the poor creature's name as his massive, limp body was tossed aside...he'd watched one of his closest friends die and was powerless to stop it. The last thing he saw before the doors closed was the inhuman creature as he slowly pulled Fox's sword from his chest, as Fox looked onto Skull's face a smile spread across the man's lips.

Something struck Fox in the head as Arlex made his way through the field that led back to the tunnel, he had trued to raise his head but was stricken by a low hanging branch. As Fox blacked out he could see something in the darkness...a set of glowing red eyes the light from which spread to the face of Tricky's killer. Fox screamed and tried to look away from those eyes but he couldn't, and as they threatened to engulf him he saw Skull's wicked smile. It was a face he'd never forget, one that would haunt his darkest dreams now as it did others so many years ago...

**(AN: Hope this chapter turned out okay...R&R people let me know how this thing's going. Anyhow I'm glad I finally got chapter 5 out there and chapter 6 ain't far behind...) **


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